Tournament Amidst Wizards
by Katsuyuki
Summary: Hitsugaya Toshiro is sent as an undercover agent to a castle full of children. But they are not the typical children one would expect. The castle is a magical school for magical children. And with the start of the Tri-wizard Tournament, problems arise…
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

Toshiro sighed as he came out of the 1st division's office. Yamamoto soutaichou had assigned him with a new mission, and it seemed that he would have to leave soul society for an unknown amount of time.

"Taichou~!!"

Toshiro sighed again as the familiar voice of his fukutaichou's voice reached his ears. Undoubtedly, she had been out drinking again, ignoring the piles of papers stacked upon her desk. At this rate, 10th division office might be overflowing with papers when he came back… Toshiro shook his head and cleared the thought out of his mind. Matsumoto might seem to loaf around a lot, but she took her responsibilities seriously when needed.

Matsumoto skidded to a halt in front of the 10th division captain and smiled joyfully. "Good afternoon Taichou! Are you done with your meeting with Soutaichou?"

Toshiro answered while continuing to walk towards the 10th division. "I'm to go down to the real world for a mission. I'll be working undercover, so you will be in charge of the 10th division for a while."

"Oh, really? For how long?"

Toshiro sighed at her jubilant tone and answered in a tired voice. "I really don't know. Apparently the 2nd division and the 13th division have been working together on this mission for a while, so I need to get some background information from Ukitake before going down to the real world and get the details of the mission from the 2nd division shinigami who has been sent as an undercover agent around a hundred and fifty or so years ago."

"Hundred and fifty years?!?!" Matsumoto gasped. "Taichou~! Soutaichou won't send a taichou as an undercover agent for that long?!"

"Of course not. We are already short of three taichous. However, there is a possibility that Aizen might be planning something in that place and if that's the case, a regular shinigami will not be able to handle this mission." Toshiro replied and looked up at his lieutenant who suddenly became quiet. "Matsumoto…?"

Matsumoto was facing towards the sunset that was painting Seireitei with its reddish orange color. Her silver gray eyes were clouded and distant, and when she finally opened her mouth, her voice was barely audible. "…Please be careful and come back safely, won't you?"

Toshiro blinked at her unusual display of insecurity, but soon smirked confidently. "Of course. Who do you think I am? Have some more faith on your taichou, Matsumoto."

-

Toshiro looked around the dingy old pub. Soi Fong said that the agent will meet him at the pub called Leaky Cauldron, but he could not find anyone who seemed like an undercover shinigami. Assuming that he or she was not here yet, Toshiro sighed and started to head for an empty seat in the corner when an unfamiliar voice called his name. "Hitsugaya-kun?"

Toshiro whirled around and came face to face with an old lady. Her hair was silvery gray and her face wrinkled with age, but her eyes sparkled brightly in the dim pub. Toshiro blinked, reluctant to believe that a grandmother who looked around eighty or so was an undercover agent of the secret mobile force.

As if reading his thoughts, she smiled reassuringly. "Nice to meet you. My name is Penelope Flamel. Although it's been a long time since I met your father, Ukitake-san and I are good friends." Toshiro blinked again at her words and noticing her meaningful gaze, looked around to see that various parties in the pub were observing them with curiosity. Toshiro looked back at the lady who introduced herself as Penelope and she smiled at him in a grandmotherly way. "You must be tired from your long journey. Why don't we order some lunch and go upstairs? I have booked a room for you to use for your stay here during the summer."

Toshiro sighed at being treated like a kid, but followed her like an obedient child. They stopped in front of the bartender to order some soup and sandwiches before going into the room upstairs. While Penelope swished her wand around the room, Toshiro sat in a chair and observed her. He recognized some privacy charms and the runes she was drawing from the books he had been studying for a while now, but it was still interesting to see the complicated movements she drew effortlessly all around the room.

Tom, the bartender, came by to deliver the ordered soup and sandwiches, and Penelope completed her work on the closed door. Then she hevily sat down on the empty chair and smiled tiredly. "Forgive my manners, but this gigai makes me feel like I'm really old."

Toshiro waived her apology away. "It's alright. I suppose that gigai is also Urahara Kisuke's work?"

"Yes. Just like your gigai, it allows us to grow naturally like humans, but he insisted that my gigai should make me feel tired quickly, reflecting my age." Then she smiled ruefully. "Urahara-san was a good taichou no matter how flippant he seems. I'm glad that the charges cast upon him were dropped."

Toshiro raised his eyebrows at her, and she smiled proudly. "He was my division captain in the 2nd division. When I was assigned with the undercover mission here, he created this gigai that will let me age like a human so that I could blend into the society more easily without having to change my gigai every now and then. Although he didn't say anything, I know that he worked non-stop for days to be able to finish this gigai in time for my departure."

"…and you secretly contacted with him over the years even after he was exiled." At his words, she just smiled and offered no answer. Toshiro sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't here to talk about Urahara Kisuke's past. He fixed his piercing gaze on Penelope and asked the question that had been bugging him ever since he received the mission. "So, what is the reason you need a child in their early teens for this mission?"


	2. Chapter 1

Hello!

Thanks for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

Toshiro let out a relieved sigh as he left 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.' The women cried about how small and thin he was for a fourteen-year-old, how unusual his white hair was, how attracting his silvery blue eyes were and on and on. He felt as if he had been inside that shop for hours, and vowed never to return to that shop again unless absolutely necessary.

He re-checked his list of supplies to make sure he bought everything needed. He had everything on the list except for a broom, a pet, and a wand. Brooms and pets were not mandatory, and Toshiro really didn't have a need for them. However, he needed a wand.

Toshiro looked around and spotted a narrow and shabby shop with a sign that hung over the door, saying _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC_ in peeling golden letters. He headed over to the shop and carefully stepped inside. On the window, there was a wand lying on a faded purple cushion, gathering dust. Inside the shop there was a single spindly legged chair and countless narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice came from the shadows. Having already sensed the person's presence, Toshiro calmly turned around to face an old man with wide, pale eyes. Toshiro ignored the sharp, searching gaze of the old man and simply waited for him to speak.

"First year in Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"But you are not eleven, are you?" Ollivander asked. His tone was airy, but his eyes remained sharply observant.

"I'm a transfer student from Japan. I'll be in fourth year." Toshiro replied warily, but Ollivander seemed satisfied with his answer. He was smiling contently and nodding to himself. "Ahh… from Japan. You must be Ukitake Jyuushiro's son, are you not?"

"…Yes. My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya. You knew my father?"

"Of course, of course. You both have such an unusual hair colour. And I remember every wand I've ever sold, . Your father had a quite a unique wand, as I recall. Ash and Kneazle hair. A very unusual combination, but his core was much more unusual. The hair was from the tail of a two-headed Kneazle. It was a very good wand for drawing Runes."

Ollivander fixed his bright eyes on Toshiro. "And I believe your wand will be just as unique as your father's, maybe even more so. Now, which is your wand arm?"

Toshiro blinked at the sudden change of topic, but wordlessly held his right arm up. The long, sliver tape measure in Ollivander's hands sprang to life, measuring from his shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, around his head, between his eyes… Toshiro knocked it out of his face and looked towards Ollivander who was coming back from with piles of boxes.

"Yew and Ashwinder scale, ," Ollivander said as he handed over the wand. "Give it a wave."

Toshiro barely touched the wand when it was grasped away from his hands. Before he even blinked, however, another wand was thrust in front of him.

"Birch and Manticore hair," Ollivander looked at Toshiro who eying him doubtfully. "Go on, swish it."

Toshiro took the wand, only to have it snatched away from his hands yet again. The process must have been repeated at least a dozen times before he could finally hold a wand. The Apple and heartstring of Antipodean Opaleye wand felt heavy and uncomfortable in his hands and he could feel the angry presence of Hyourinmaru stirring inside him. At Ollivander's encouraging look, however, Toshiro sighed and waved the wand, feeling foolish.

A large BOOM echoed through the small shop and Toshiro coughed at the dust that rose off from everywhere. From shelves, wand boxes had fallen to the floor and window glasses had been cracked. However, Ollivander didn't seem to mind at the least. He was muttering excitedly as he searched through the piles of boxes he had brought.

"Definitely a dragon heartstring for a core, but a different breed. And the wood is completely wrong! A more powerful wood for sure…"

For the next hour or so, Toshiro went through every single wand in the shop with a dragon heartstring core, but couldn't find a single wand that didn't damage the store. Although some wands had actually felt light and slightly comfortable in his hands, Hyourinmaru just wouldn't accept them for some reason. It will be impossible to find a wand without Hyourinmaru's consent, and it seemed like it would be impossible to appease her indignation at having to accommodate another presence. Toshiro smothered a sigh and looked at Ollivander to find a surprised but joyful look on his face. His eyes seemed to shine with a childlike glee, which made Toshiro even more uncomfortable.

"It seems like I do not have a wand that fits you, ," Ollivander rubbed his palms with anticipation. "It's been a long time since I had to make a custom wand. Follow me, please."

Ollivander disappeared behind the wand shelves and Toshiro followed with a last glance at the completely destroyed shop. He hadn't thought that acquiring a wand would be so troublesome.

-

The basement was full of large cupboards with various runes etched onto them. Ollivander headed towards one of the largest cupboards and bit his finger before pressing them lightly on the runes. It glowed for a moment and then the cupboard doors creaked open to reveal stacks and stacks of bottles with various colours of something immersed in a clear liquid.

Ollivander looked at Toshiro with pride in his eyes. "This is my family's valued collection of dragon heartstrings. I advise you to treat these carefully as they can be very volatile in a raw form like this."

However, Ollivander's voice did not reach Toshiro's ears just now. He could feel the icy presence of Hyourinmaru coming from the cupboard ever since the runes collapsed, and was having a hard time restraining himself to reach into the cupboard and snatch it out. Seeming to realize Toshiro's fixation on something, Ollivander took his hand and guided him through the shelves. Soon, in Toshiro's hands, there was a bottle encased in silvery ice.

Ollivander sighed with longing as he looked at the bottle in Toshiro's hands. "It seems that you found a wand core that fits you . Unfortunately, the dragon heartstring inside that bottle cannot be obtained. It was a heartstring freely given to my ancestor thousands of years ago by an ancient Ice Dragon of an unknown species. However, as soon as it was immersed inside the preservation liquid, the liquid around it froze, trapping it in a never melting ice. The most skilled goblin craftsman in history declared it impossible to obtain, and I don't see how…" Ollivander trailed off and stared as Toshiro easily slid opened the lid of the bottle and the ice turned back into liquid.

He blinked. And blinked again before staring at Toshiro once and then back again at the open bottle. Then he laughed delightfully and held the bottle up. "There must have been some magic on the heartstring cast by the dragon itself! It is believed that the ancient dragons long time ago could speak the human tongue and were masters of magic. It must have been spelled to make sure that it did not fall into the wrong hands until the rightful owner came to claim it!" Suddenly, Ollivander's joyful mood disappeared and he became serious. "Although I do not know its breed, , I'll have to warn you that this heartstring will be a very powerful wand core."

Toshiro nodded, knowing without a doubt that Ollivander's assumption was true, and also relieved that the old wand maker did not suspect him of doing anything out of ordinary. Seeing Toshiro nod, Ollivander dropped the serious face and rubbed his hands gleefully.

"Now, I believe that the wood that matched with you was a willow, was it not? Come here and feel the right willow for your wand."

-

When Toshiro entered the Ollivander's wand shop in a week's time, Ollivander's voice called him straight down to the basement. When Toshiro arrived at the basement, Ollivander closed the door and preformed several privacy charms on the door. Seeing Toshiro's curious gaze upon him, Ollivander ushered him to sit down.

"Now, I need to have a serious talk with you, . This wand I crafted… it is a very powerful wand. In all my years, I haven't seen a wand that will match the power of this one. I have once made a mistake of selling a powerful wand into the wrong hands and that wand is being used to do great, but terrible things. You must understand that when I am crafting a wand, no matter its strength, I put all my effort into it. They are my pride and joy. I really do not like seeing my creations being used with ill intent, and do not wish to make the same mistake again."

Ollivander stared straight into Toshiro's bright, clear eyes. Seeing the soft look of understanding and fierce determination in them, he smiled. "But, I believe this one has found the perfect owner." He handed Toshiro a white wooden box.

Toshiro carefully opened the box, feeling Hyourinmaru's power emitting from the wand in soft waves. Inside the box, there was a thin and elegant looking, pure white wand. He carefully lifted the wand out of the box and felt the cool waves rolling off from the wand much like waves from his zanpakutou, but in much softer and less powerful waves. He swished the wand and shower of silver sparks came out of it, illuminating the dark basement brightly. Toshiro smiled as he felt the already cool temperature of the room drop a few degrees more. The wand behaved just like his zanpakutou did.

"Oh, bravo!" Ollivander cried as he clapped his hands. "Watching my creations bond with their partners is always a pleasant experience. Take good care of that wand, , and that will be eighteen gallions and six sickles."


	3. Chapter 2

I don't really like this chapter myself,

but I wanted to get through with the train part and the sorting quickly.

Thanks for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

Toshiro sighed and rubbed his temples. Ever since the news of the Dark Mark appearing at some game called Quidditch, the tension in the air was thick and Toshiro could feel the fear emitting from the wizards. Even now, as he looked out from the window, parents from everywhere seemed nervous and worried as they said their goodbyes to their children.

Penelope and Nicholas, Penelope's husband, had told Toshiro about the past war with Voldemort, and he had been reading through various reports about the supposed Dark Lord and his subordinates that Penelope had collected in the past. She told him that the signs of the Dark Lord's return had started to appear three years ago, when he came out of hiding to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that supposedly gave its owner a fountain of wealth and immortality. Thankfully, the stone had been destroyed, preventing the Dark Lord from getting hold of it. Unfortunately, it also meant that the Flamels would have to leave the mortal world soon.

Nicholas had laughed, saying, 'I used to say that death is just a start of another adventure. But I never even imagined that there would be a whole new other world waiting for us. I'm very much looking forward to it,' and Penelope had informed Toshiro about the Soutachiou's special permission to lead Nicholas's soul straight to Soul Society herself, where the couple will take charge of the shinigami being sent into this world. Training them in the history and culture of the Wizarding world as well as instructing them on how to use their reiatsu to perform magic.

'Well, they are certainly very knowledgeable in almost every field.' Toshiro thought absentmindedly as he recalled the lessons he got from them over the summer. Penelope was a Master in Ancient Runes and Charms as well as Duelling and the Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nicholas, on the other hand, was a Master in Potions, Alchemy, Transfigurations, Herbology, Magical Creatures, and History. It made sense that they would be picked as the instructors.

Thinking of Soul Society reminded him of his own division. The image of Matsumoto dozing on her favourite couch, while stacks and stacks of paper collected dust was the first thing that came into Toshiro's mind, and he sighed and rubbed his temples again. He will definitely have to go back during the winter break to check if everything is in order.

Toshiro's train of thoughts abruptly halted when the door of his compartment slid open. There stood a round faced, short and plump boy, who flushed when Toshiro's sharp eyes landed on him.

"I.. I'm sorry," the boy stammered. "c.. could I come in? Everywhere else is full…"

Toshiro nodded before looking out the window without saying a word. The blue sky and the empty green fields flashing by calmed him, placating his worries.

"Um…" at the boy's hesitant call, Toshiro sighed and turned to face the boy. "Are you starting your first year?"

"No." Toshiro frowned, "I'm going to be in fourth year."

"Fourth?!" the boy cried out, looking startled. "B.. but I'm a fourth year."

"So?" Toshiro replied, and the boy blushed. "I.. uh.. if you are a fourth year, then we must have had some classes together, but I.. I haven't seen you at all."

"That's because it's my first year in Hogwarts. I'm a transfer student."

At Toshiro's reply, the boy nodded in understanding. Then, with some hesitation, he held out his hand and stammered. "I.. I'm Neville Longbottom. Urm.. nice to meet you."

Toshiro blinked and looked up at the boy's anxious face. His posture was tense and stiff, while his eyes looked at Toshiro hesitantly. Toshiro sighed and grasped the boy's hand firmly. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya."

-

Toshiro soon found out that Neville had a very low confidence in himself, due to his family who had tried to force the magic out of him. He frowned, as he could feel that Neville's power level was quite larger than most wizards he had seen in Diagon Alley, but did not say anything. It was probably his lack of confidence that blocked his power unconsciously, and nothing except Neville believing in himself would free him from the wall he trapped himself in. Instead, he opted to teach Neville how to meditate.

Meditation was first thing every shinigami learned when they were accepted into the academy. Only after one found their core of spiritual energy and learned how to control its flow, they could start the training to become shinigami. That way, there would be less accidents caused as well as less shinigami-in-training dying from sudden uncontrolled bursts of their spiritual energy, which usually resulted from restricting their powers in their body for too long.

Wizards, their powers being much less then the shinigami's, might not have to face consequences that devastating, but it still must cause some build-up of stress inside their bodies, that could possibly lead to their death. Toshiro looked at the boy in front of him, who was frowning in concentration, and smiled a little. Once the Longbottom kid has full control of his powers, he would become a powerful wizard.

Breaking Toshiro's thoughts, Neville sighed as he opened his eyes and rubbed them tiredly. "I can't seem to do it, Hitsugaya. My mind keeps being distracted by various thoughts!"

"That's normal. You'll need to practice continuously for quite a while until you get the hang of clearing your mind completely." Toshiro told him, but Neville still looked doubtful. "I know someone who is considered quite powerful in our world, but it took her two months to meditate properly. Her friends had gone into the next stage of training, but she couldn't because she always got distracted easily during her meditation." He smiled slightly, remembering how Matsumoto had complained about it long time ago. "Also, you might think your powers are weak and thus, useless, but I've seen people with low levels of power who are formidable because of their perfect control and intricate use of their powers. You just need some endurance and more confidence in yourself."

Neville sighed and nodded before closing his eyes to try and meditate again. Toshiro read, while Neville fell in and out of meditation. By the time the trolley lady came and knocked at the door, Neville was deep in a trance-like state to notice her. Toshiro bought some sandwiches for the two of them and observed Neville.

He was learning how to meditate much faster than Toshiro had expected. Judging from his personality, Toshiro had expected Neville to pick up meditation fairly quickly, but not this fast. From the soft fluctuations in his magic it looked like he was already starting to follow the trails of his power in search of its core. 'Obviously, the training in magic helped. His wand is connected to his magical core and he had been using it for three years now,' Toshiro thought to himself and smiled slightly.

As the afternoon progressed, Neville woke up once with an excited face and gobbled up the sandwich gratefully before resuming his meditation, while Toshiro read his books, enjoying the quiet, and occasionally looking up to check Neville's progress. At one time, few kids popped into the compartment and promptly left when Toshiro glared at their noisiness, but except for that, the journey was thankfully peaceful.

As Toshiro felt the train slowly coming to a stop, he shook Neville out of his meditation. They both headed outside into the pouring rain, where Neville hurried off towards the carriages while Toshiro stayed behind with the first years to take the boat across the Hogwarts lake.


	4. Chapter 3

I have a question for all of you.

If some other shinigami was to come into this story,

who would you like best?

It might and might not happen,

as I only have a vague overall plot for this story,

but if you guys have any opinions,

feel free to tell me!

and thank you to all the reviewers!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

The first years and Toshiro came to a stop in front of the large oak doors of Hogwarts. Toshiro waited patiently as Hagrid, the giant gatekeeper, raised his gigantic fists to knock on the door three times.

Almost immediately, the door opened to reveal a tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes. Her face was stern, her posture stiff. Toshiro could see that she was a strict woman who demanded respect.

"The firs' years and the transfer student, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid," McGonagall nodded curtly. "I will take it from here." She pulled the door wide and stepped aside so everyone could come in. The first years, all drenched in the heavy rain, shivered with cold and anxiety as they looked around the large Entrance Hall. Flaming torches lit the stone walls, the ceiling too high to even make out, and there was an immaculate marble staircase that led to the upper floor. Muffled voices could be heard from the doorway to the right, indicating that other students were already there.

Professor McGonagall led them into a small, empty chamber next door. When all the students crowded in, she cleared her throat. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she announced. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are attending this school, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your housemates, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

The four houses are called Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, Ranvenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking and misbehaviour will result in the loss of house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

With that, Professor McGonagall left the chamber and everyone instantly tried to straight up their robes and hair. Not that anyone had much luck, since their hair and robes were thoroughly drenched. Some looked upset at their state while most of them just fidgeted nervously as they stared at the doors Professor McGonagall disappeared through. One boy, however, was bouncing up and down excitedly, talking to his friends. Toshiro noted that he was the boy who had fallen into the lake earlier, Hagrid's large moleskin overcoat dragging on the ground at his feet.

Ignoring the buzz of the children around him, Toshiro waited patiently for McGonagall's return. Soon, she stepped into the room and ushered them outside. "Form a line and follow me," she said sharply. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Toshiro quietly stood at the end of the first years as they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Toshiro took in the thousands and thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables tat were nearly full with students. On the tables were glittering golden plates and goblets, yet to be filled. Black and purple clouds were swirling across the ceiling and fork of lightening flashed across it every time a thunderclap sounded outside.

At the front of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. The old man sitting in the center of the table caught Toshiro's eyes first, and he registered the man as Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of the school. There was an empty seat right beside him, probably for Professor McGonagall, who was the Deputy Headmistress. But there were also another empty seat close to the middle, making the table seem strangely vacant.

Professor McGonagall set a four-legged stool in front of the first years and then set a pointed wizard's hat on top of the stool. The hat was patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. Toshiro eyed the hat doubtfully when suddenly, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

A thousand years or more ago

When I was newly sewn,

There lived four wizards of renown,

Whose names are still well known:

Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,

Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,

Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,

Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.

They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,

They hatched a daring plan

To educate young sorcerers

Thus Hogwarts School began.

Now each of these four founders

Formed their own house, for each

Did value different virtues

In the ones they had to teach.

By Gryffindor, the bravest were

Prized far beyond the rest;

For Ravenclaw, the cleverest

Would always be the best;

For Hufflepuff, hard workers were

Most worthy of admission;

And power-hungry Slytherin

Loved those of great ambition.

While still alive they did divide

Their favorites from the throng,

Yet how to pick the worthy ones

When they were dead and gone?

'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,

He whipped me off his head

The founders put some brains in me

So I could choose instead!

Now slip me snug about your ears,

I've never yet been wrong,

I'll have a look inside your mind

And tell where you belong!

The Great Hall rang with applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still once again. The other first years seemed more relaxed at the hat's song, but Toshiro stiffened. If what the Hat said about 'looking inside your mind' was true, did it mean that his purpose in this world was going to be revealed? And what about the information on Soul Society?

While Toshiro was panicking, Professor McGonagall had stepped forward with a long roll of parchment in her hands. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "When the hat announces your house, you will go to the appropriate table."

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from heat to foot, and picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the table with blue curtains draped above, where everyone was applauding him.

"Daddock, Malcolm!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The sorting continued and Toshiro's insides clenched with appreciation as the line of first years became shorter and shorter. He tried to calm down by reminding himself that Ukitake had probably gone through this procedure as well, and he would have warned him if it was to be avoided.

Finally with "Whitby, Kevin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!", the sorting ended, and everyone's gaze focused on Toshiro, standing alone by the stool. He ignored the stares directed at him and focused his attention at Dumbledore who had stood up, clapping his hands for attention.

"This year, is a very special year." Dumbledore announced as he looked over the students with brightly twinkling eyes. "Hogwarts has once again, honoured with having a foreign student amidst her walls. He comes all the way from Japan, and will be attending Hogwarts as a fourth year." At Dumbledore's words, excited whispers broke out among the students. "Please welcome Hitsugaya."

Polite applause broke out as Toshiro approached the stool, put the hat on and sat down. The hat blocked his line of sight, and in the darkness, a voice sounded in his ear. _"Hmm, a transfer student, eh?"_ the voice chuckled. _"We both know that you are not what you seem to be. Don't we?"_ Toshiro tensed at the hat's words, and the hat, seeming to sense his anxiety, chuckled. _"Do not worry. Your secret is safe with me. I do not talk about what I see in the student's heads to anyone, young shinigami."_ Then the hat started to poke around Toshiro's head. _"Well, quite a bright mind and plenty of courage. Already a captain at your age and-"_

Suddenly, Toshiro felt Hyourinmaru reaching out in his mind to touch the hat's presence. The hat must have sensed it too, because it abruptly stopped its musings and then, just as suddenly as it appeared, Hyourinmaru's presence died away.

_"-a dragon wielder! My, my. You are full of surprises, young one!"_ the hat exclaimed. _"But let's finish your sorting now. You have a large amount of power and it's still developing. You are exceptionally bright and observant, but you don't have much ambition. So I suppose Slytherin out of question, but Ravenclaw will fit you well. However, you also have large amounts of courage and loyalty as well. Being in Gryffindor would also help you in your mission here. Let's see… hmm… well, I believe it would be best to put you in – _GRYFFINDOR_!"_

The last word was shouted to the entire hall, and the Gryffindor house cheered. Toshiro calmly plucked the hat off and walked towards the Gryffindor table before sitting down at the empty seat Neville made for him.

"Congratulations on making Gryffindor!" Neville told him once Toshiro sat down. "I'm really glad that we are in the same house!" Toshiro smiled slightly at his newly made acquaintance, before turning his attention to the teacher's table.

"Well," Dumbledore said pleasantly, when the clapping died out. "I have only two words to say to you," his deep voice echoed around the hall. "Tuck in!"

In front of Toshiro's eyes, the plates that had been empty moments ago, filled up with warm, steaming food. There were various dishes that Toshiro had never seen before, but thankfully, there were also some he recognized. The Japanese dishes looked out of place in the large, golden western plates, and everyone paused to look at them in confusion.

Neville also blinked at the foreign food but soon smiled. "They must have made it for you, Hitsugaya. It is difficult to suddenly adjust to having foreign meals everyday."

Toshiro nodded at him before reaching out for the Japanese dishes in front of him. He ate in silence while everyone chattered all around him. Few students tried to engage him in a conversation, but except for shortly answering direct questions aimed at him, Toshiro remained quiet, and most of them soon gave up talking to him.

Having finished his meal fairly quickly, Toshiro sipped on his cup of green tea while he observed the students around him. Most were happily chatting with their friends except for one girl – the one that kept bothering him about questions earlier – who was going on about slave labour and refusing to touch anything. Two boys, who seemed to be her friend, were trying to convince her to eat something, without much luck.

Toshiro turned his attention elsewhere, and suddenly noticed that Neville was quietly eating by himself, wistfully listening to conversations that were taking place around him. Toshiro sighed, but cleared his throat, feeling a bit uncomfortable himself.

"…So, could you tell me some about Hogwarts?"

"…Umm…me?" Neville asked Toshiro with wide eyes. Seeing Toshiro nod, his face brightened and he smiled happily.

"It is a great place. There are lots of subjects you can learn, and most teachers are really nice and helpful, too. Hagrid is the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures. He is really enthusiastic about what he teaches, but the creatures he tends to introduce to the class tend to be a little scary. But he doesn't mean any harm, really." Neville nervously glanced at Toshiro and continued on. "The empty table is usually where the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor sits. I don't know why it's empty today, but Professor Dumbledore will probably explain after the feast." Then Neville's voice faltered, as he gestured to a thin man with sallow skin and a large hooked nose. "Urm… he… he is Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin house and teaches Potions. He… he favours the Slytherins and doesn't like us Gryffindors much. I suppose you'll see soon, but Gryffindors and Slytherins are not really in good terms."

Neville fidgeted, seeming nervous about the topic and hurriedly pointed to the next teacher. "That's Professor McGonagall, our Head of the House. She's also the Deputy Headmistress, and she usually leads the first years through the castle and gives them a brief speech about Hogwarts. She teaches Transfiguration and is very strict, but she is very patient and understanding if you approach her with any problems. The professor next to her is the Headmaster. He's really a powerful wizard." Neville suddenly lowered his voice anxiously. "You must have heard about the Dark Mark appearing during the summer, but it will be safe in Hogwarts. They say Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard that th…the D..dark Lord fears. He won't be able to do anything as long as P..professor Dumbledore is here." Neville hurriedly added, trying to sound soothing and confident, but failed horribly. Toshiro raised his eyebrows a little, but did not comment on it.

Neville went on to introduce Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House and Charms professor, Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff and Herbology professor, Aurora Sinistra, Astronomy professor, and Septima Vector, the Arithmancy Professor. Then he talked about what different classes were like. Toshiro noted that while Neville was terrified of anything concerning the Potions Professor, he loved Herbology. Suddenly, the food on the table disappeared, and Dumbledore stood up to address the students. The chatter immediately died out, and Toshiro looked up from his own conversation with Neville, mildly impressed at the level of effect Dumbledore had on his students.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at the students. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Suddenly, chatters of disbelief broke out amoung the students, and Toshiro heard and outrageous cry of "_What?_" coming from one of the boys near him. However, seemingly oblivious to the student's reactions, Dumbledore went on.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure I announcing that this year at Hogwarts –"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled towards the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightening that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, and then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.

A dull _clunk_ echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily towards Dumbledore. Another flash of lightening crossed the ceiling, and someone gasped.

The lightening had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and the face that came into view was a face of a soldier, who had gone through vicious battles. Every inch of his skin seemed to be scarred. A large chunk of his nose was missing, and his mouth looked like a diagonal gash on his face. However, what bothered Toshiro were his eyes.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other, was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking and was rolling up, down , and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye – and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all Toshiro could see was whiteness. Toshiro wondered for a moment if Kurotshuchi Mayuri got his hands on the man.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words too quiet to hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, gulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left f his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore, brightly into the silence. "Professor Mooody."

No one clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. Toshiro, however, noticed quite a large amount of hostility on the Slytherins faces, aimed at the new teacher. Snape, their head, seemed to share his student's opinion of the new teacher, and although Moody never lifted his face, the feeling seemed to be mutual, by the way his blue eyes seemed to shift constantly towards that particular house.

"Moody?" someone muttered near him, and Toshiro shifted his attention in time to see the black haired boy turn to a red haired boy beside him. "_Mad-Eye Moody?_ The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Must be," said the red one in a low, awed voice.

"What happened to him?" the bushy haired girl who had been insisting 'slave labour' whispered, seemingly forgotten her previous concern. "What happened to his _face?_"

"Dunno." The red one whispered back to his friend, watching Moody with fascination.

Toshiro looked back at the head table, where Moody seemed totally indifferent to the student's reactions. He reached into his traveling cloak, pulled out a flask, and took a long drought from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Toshiro's sharp eye caught the sight of a carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, and event that has not been held for over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" another red head further down the table said loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am _not_ joking, ." he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er – but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, and Toshiro smiled a little. Dumbledore reminded him of Ukitake. They were both great leaders who inspired loyalty and respect through compassion and understanding. "now, where was I?" Dumbledore continued, "Ah, yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities – until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" the bushy haired girl whispered, alarmed, and Neville turned pale, but their anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of the student population. Many of them were whispering excitedly to one another.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

The heads of Beauzbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" someone said loudly from down the table, and his feeling seemed to be shared by most of the students in the Great Hall. Most students were either gazing at Dumbledore, rapt with attention, while others were whispering fervently to their neighbours. But when Dumbledore spoke again, the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years or older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" – Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words – "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no under-age student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over to red haired twins further up the Gryffindor table, and seeing their mutinous faces, Toshiro noted them to be possible troublemakers. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of his year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Toshiro scrunched his face at being dismissed like a little child, but sighed as he stood up. Most students were doing the same, swarming towards the double doors into the entrance hall, but few rebellious students were remaining, glaring up at the Head Table to voice their outrage. Ignoring them, Toshiro tugged at Neville's robes, pulling him towards the entrance hall.

"Lead me to the dormitories. I don't know the way." Toshiro said, and looked at Neville who was still silent. "What's the matter?"

"…You're not thinking of competing, are you?" Neville asked him nervously, and Toshiro sighed.

"Of course not. I cannot possibly represent this school when I've just entered here, can I? Also, even if I could, I'm not one of those brainless idiots who blindly throw themselves into danger seeking for some glory and fame." At Toshiro's disdainful tone, Neville chuckled nervously, but seemed to be pacified.

"I know, but it's just that most Gryffindors are planning to get into the tournament no matter what, and I…" Neville faltered, and Toshiro sighed again.

"Don't bother with what others think, Longbottom. Bravery might be Gryffindor's trait, but it doesn't mean you have to stupidly charge into dangerous situations. No matter what others say, only a reckless child, believing themselves to be all powerful and imperishable will do that, and they will only face a rude awakening." Toshiro fixed his sharp eyes on Neville and continued. "From what I've seen so far, you are one of the few sensible ones, so don't fool yourself into thinking that you should act like them to be a member of Gryffindor. There are many different types of bravery, but charging into unknown, dangerous situations without thinking of consequences is not bravery but plain foolishness."

Neville blinked, but gave Toshiro a tentative smile. They followed a prefect leading the first years to the dormitories, Neville pointing to various passages and explaining them to Toshiro on the way. The prefect stopped in front of a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" She asked.

"Bladerdash," said the prefect, and the Portrait immediately swung forward to reveal a round hold in the wall. Toshiro followed Neville through it and stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room, a glaring red room full of squashy armchairs. The fireplace was lit, illuminating the room and making the room even redder, if possible. Feeling stuffy, Toshiro hurriedly followed Neville up a spiral staircase until they reached their dorm. Seven four-posters hung with deep, red velvet curtains. His trunk had already been brought up and to Toshiro's relief, was placed at the foot of the bed that was right beside the window.

Toshiro walked over to his bed by the window and immediately opened them, relishing in the cool night air that came in. Apparently, Neville's bed was the one right next to his, since he flopped down on it. Neville looked at him and offered a tentative smile and said "Good night," which Toshiro returned before climbing into his own bed. Toshiro drew the curtains around him, before settling into his bed. He heard the other students sharing the dorm piling in, before they soon fell asleep. As the room became quiet, Toshiro closed his eyes and let his fatigue consume him, as he quietly mused on what will be in store for him tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 4

Hey, everyone!

I'm really sorry for the late update,

but I'm on a vacation right now,

and I don't have access to a computer easily.

This chapter is a bit hurridly written,

so it is short and messy,

but I promise that I'll come back with a longer well written chapter next time!

Thank you for all the reviews everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

The next morning, Toshiro was already up and eating breakfast in the Great Hall when Neville arrived, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Good morning," Neville greeted him and plopped down in front of him. "You woke up really early."

"It's a habit," Toshiro replied shortly.

Their breakfast was a silent affair, only interrupted once by the daily post delivery, as one owl swooped down to drop a parcel in Neville's lap. Toshiro calmly observed the procession for a second before continuing his meal while Neville shoved the parcel into his bag as he yawned sleepily. Neville was still yawning tiredly by the time Professor McGonagall came over to hand them their timetables, but he leaned over the table to compare their timetables with curious eyes.

Upon looking at Toshiro's timetable, Neville blinked. "Oh, you signed up for Ancient Runes."

"Is that a problem?" Toshiro asked.

"Not really, but I heard that it's way harder than other courses."

"Well, I don't need to learn Arithmancy and I don't believe in Divination." At Toshiro's curt reply, Neville sighed wistfully. "I wish I had signed up for something else, too."

Suddenly, someone came to a stop behind Toshiro, and he turned to face a bushy haired girl he had seen yesterday. "Hi," she said, sticking her hand out. "My name is Hermione Granger."'

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Well, Toshiro–" Hermione continued, but Toshiro cut her off.

"It's Hitsugaya."

Hermione blinked, looking offended at being cut off but seemingly bewildered at his demand as well.

"Why?" she asked, and Toshiro sighed, remembering the customs in this country and also wondering for a second if he had to have this conversation with every single one of them. Thankfully, Neville came to his rescue.

"It's their custom in Japan. Unless you are very young, first names are only used between families and very close friends. It's considered very rude to call someone by their first name without their permission." Neville finished and Hermione nodded in understanding. Toshiro, however, just realizing that Neville had called him by his last name from the start, turned to Neville. Seeing Toshiro's surprised look, Neville smiled. "My aunt is from Japan, you see. My uncle met her during one of his trips around the world."

Hermione, who had disappeared for a second, came back, dragging over the two boys who were with her yesterday. The boys were grumbling, but they followed her albeit reluctantly. She stopped in front of Toshiro and proceeded to introduce the boys she brought over. "These are my best friends Ron Weasely and Harry Potter." She pointed to the red haired boy before pointing to the black haired one. Toshiro nodded to them and noticing their anticipating gaze, frowned.

"What?" he asked, his frown becoming deeper at seeing the trio cringe slightly. "Am I supposed to be doing something?"

"No, no. It's just that…" Hermione trailed off, glancing at Harry surreptitiously. However, Hitsugaya understood the message and let out an annoyed breath. He hated people who stared and idolized others just because of their fame, oblivious to its downsides they had to suffer.

"I'm not going to be awed and stammer at the sight of him like an idiot, just because of some incident years ago. Especially since no one knows what really happened that night and I highly doubt that Potter had any control over what he supposedly did." Toshiro told them. Hermione frowned at his words and Ron's face reddened, but Harry was looking at him with somewhat relieved eyes. Toshiro sighed. Apparently, his so called 'best friends' didn't even understand him. But then, Toshiro couldn't really blame them. They were only children after all. So, he just shrugged, gathered his bag and walked out of the Great Hall before one of Harry's friends could explode.

-

Ron watched with furious eyes as Toshiro left and Neville hurried after him after stammering a short apology. "How can he say that! As if a foreigner like him would know anything!"

"Well, although I don't like it… what he said is true…" Hermione trailed off.

Ron grumbled, ignoring Hermione's words. "Why is he in Gryffindor? He must have done something with the bloody hat. If you ask me, he is definitely a Slytherin!"

Hermione sighed. "Ron, he probably is just uncomfortable in a foreign country. Neville seems to get on with him just fine."

"Well, he must have done something to him as well! Maybe blackmail?"

"That's just going too far, Ron. What would he know about Neville when he just came to England?"

"Don't you remember Hermione? He just called Harry 'Potter'! We know that Slytherins are the only ones who call Harry by his last name!"

"Ron, I told you that it's their custom in Japan. He calls Neville by his last name too."

Despite Hermione's attempts to make Ron understand, he continued to mutter angrily about Hitsugaya as they made their way to their class. The two of them were so immersed in their argument that they failed to notice their other friend, who followed them quietly, deep in thought.

-

Herbology with the Hufflepuffs went by smoothly. The day's lesson being a practical one, squeezing out the pus from a plant called bubotuber, Toshiro just had to observe Neville and carefully copy his movements. Thus, having finished extracting the required amount much faster than most of the class, Toshiro spent the rest of the class learning the student's names from Neville, and observing their behaviours. When the bell echoed throughout the castle loudly, Toshiro just quietly followed the grumbling Gryffindors to Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagird was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at Hagrid's feet, and the dog was whimpering and straining at his collar, keen to investigate the contents. Toshiro could hear an odd rattling sound and small explosions as they approached.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid cheerfully called out as the Gryffindors approached. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this – Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"Come again?" said Ron, and Toshiro watched as a curly blond haired girl called Lavander stepped closer to the boxes to take a look inside. As soon as she peeked inside, she jumped backwards with a squeal, and Hagrid proudly displayed them for all the Gryffindors to see.

The Blast-Ended Skrewts looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters. They were pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They also were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish, and every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small _phut_, it would be propelled several inches forward.

In Toshiro's opinion, they looked like miniature Hollows, but apparently Hagrid seemed to adore them as he proudly declared that they would be raising one of them as a project.

"And why would we _want_ to raise them?" a cold voice drawled out from behind them and Toshiro turned to see the Slytherins approaching with a pale blond haired boy at the front.

Neville pointed out several Slytherins and whispered their names and short description of their personalities. Toshiro carefully etched them into his mind, adding some to the list of people he should further observe but at the same time, avoid.

Malfoy, the pale blond haired boy, lost the little confrontation he had with Hagrid, and the class resumed. Toshiro reluctantly picked up a handful of frog liver and tossed them into the crate, unwilling to get near creatures with unknown abilities, no matter how small. This, of course, proved to be a smart move as Dean Thomas, a Gryffindor boy, yelled "_Ouch!_" and quickly pulled his hand out from the box.

"It got me!" he exclaimed, nursing his hand.

Hagrid hurried over to him looking anxious.

"Its end exploded!" Dean angrily complained, as he showed Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.

Complaints and exclamations of surprise came from other students as well, and Hagrid enthusiastically explained how the males have stings while the females had suckers on their bellies. Everyone scrunched their faces in disgust and horror, but Toshiro nodded, having already noted the physical components of the creatures body and had made some guesses to its functions.

Malfoy, who had not even gone near the creatures, commented sarcastically. "Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," he said. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Hermione's comment seemed to shut Malfoy up. As soon as the bell rang, Toshiro gratefully moved back towards the castle. The weather outside was still hot, and being around hot-headed kids was already getting on his nerves. He wanted to do nothing more than go back to his own office in 10th division, even if he had to look through hundreds of files and chase around Matsumoto.

-

Toshiro sighed with content as he came out of the Ancient Runes class. It was a small class with majority of students being Ravenclaws and a few Slytherins. There were no Hufflepuffs at all, and there was only one other Gryffindor other than Toshiro himself. With a combination like that, the class was relatively peaceful.

In addition, unlike the other classes that were relatively easy, the topic was actually challenging to Toshiro, and interesting as well. Thinking absentmindedly that Ancient Runes might become his favourite class in the school, Toshiro headed towards the Great Hall for dinner.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Toshiro could feel a wave of killing intent. It soon disappeared, but was strong enough for Toshiro to be on guard. He hurried down the stairs and turned, to see Malfoy and Potter glaring at each other.

Weasley was being restrained by Granger, and his face was red as his hair. There were also quite an audience surrounding the four, but everyone was dead quiet, anticipating the four's next move. Toshiro quickly took in the situation and searched among the crowd to locate the origin of the killing intent he felt just a second ago. Although the ones fighting were Potter and Malfoy, the wave of malice was not from them.

He soon found a presence hiding behind the corner just around the small crowd of students. As he quickly hid himself and moved to a place where he could observe the person better, a loud BANG! shook the walls.

Several people screamed and ran away, but Toshiro kept his eyes on the hidden person who was quickly heading towards Harry and others. Toshiro's sharp eyes caught the man pointing his wand at Malfoy, who was once again aiming his wand at Potter.

The second BANG! echoed through the walls and Moody's voice boomed out. "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Toshiro's eyes became hard as he watched Moody limping down the marble staircase, his wand pointed at a pure white ferret, which stood where Malfoy was just a few seconds ago.

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Moody turned to look at Harry, but Toshiro noticed that Moody's moving eye was spinning back and fourth between Malfoy and undoubtedly, Toshiro himself.

Toshiro watched with narrowed eyes as the eye spun towards him. He was sure that Moody's moving eye was just as effective as his normal one, and maybe even more. His suspicions were conformed when Moody shouted "LEAVE IT!" at Crabbe who froze, just about to pick up the white ferret. It had been staring at the corner that Crabbe burst out from just a second ago. Toshiro suspected that the moving eye was even capable of looking through objects.

Moody limped towards Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off toward the dungeons.

At that, Moody roared "I don't think so!" and pointed his wand at the ferret again, making it fly ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounce upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly.

"Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" a shocked voice rang through the hall and Toshiro left quietly as an indignant Professor McGonagall approached the scene.

-

It wasn't long after Toshiro arrived at the Great Hall when the Trio came in.

As soon as they sat down, they were surrounded by excited students who wanted to know what exactly happened. Ron took on a serious look and said "Don't talk to me," to the crowd, surprising his two friends.

"Why not?" asked Hermione.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."

Toshiro listened with one ear as Ron and Harry excitedly talked about Moody while Hermione went on about how McGonagall was right to stop him. As Hermione left, heading for the library, Fred and George, the Weasley twins took her seat with excited faces.

"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"

"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred. "Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told Harry and Ron.

"What was it like?" said Harry eagerly.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.

"Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.

"He knows, man," said Lee.

"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.

"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.

"Doing what?" said Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.

"He's seen it all," said George.

"Mazing," said Lee.

Ron dived into his bag for his schedule.

"We haven't got him till Thursday!" Ron moaned in a disappointed voice and Toshiro agreed with the youngest male Weasley for the first time for different reasons.

Although his attention shifted when Professor McGonagall appeared, Moody's magical eye was fixated on Toshiro throughout the whole time he was bouncing Malfoy up and down.

Moody's appearance and demeanour all screamed DANGER to Toshiro's senses and Toshiro was determined to investigate him further.


	6. Chapter 5

Hello!

Thanks for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

-

The next two days passed without great incident for everyone, except Neville. Despite the general improvement in most of his classes, Neville's lack of confidence was increasing, due to his fear of a certain Potions Master.

In Toshiro's opinion, Professor Snape was a far better teacher than some other professors in Hogwarts. Unlike Binns who only droned on about goblins or Hagrid who had no authority over the students, Snape was not only knowledgeable in his subject, but also very efficient in obtaining order amoung the student body.

Toshiro sighed as he saw Neville return from his detention with Snape in a state of nervous collapse. Snape's only problem was his blatant favouritism towards the Slytherins and his palpable dislike towards the Gryffindors - especially Potter.

"You know why Snape is in such a foul mood, don't you?" Toshiro was watching Hermione teach Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog guts from his fingernails when he heard Ron's smug voice.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Moody."

"Does Snape dislike Moody?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah. It's common knowledge that Snape really really wants the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, but Dumbledore doesn't allow him, you see. Dumbledore must think that Snape will change the subject into Dark Arts. Since Snape can't become the DADA professor, he cursed the position to prevent anyone from getting it."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron. Professor Snape didn't curse the position." Hermione, who has been listening in to the conversation as well, cut in. "It's just unfortunate events that caused the previous professors to leave."

"Yeah, sure." Ron snorted unbelievingly and Hermione rolled her eves before focusing her attention back to Neville.

"But this time is different. I reckon Snape's a bit scared of Moody, you know." Harry said thoughtfully, and Toshiro raised his eyebrows. He had also observed Snape's tense and extremely cautious atmosphere around Moody, and having been speculating on the Potions Master's odd behaviour.

Toshiro have learned the basic profiles of all Hogwarts teachers from Penelope, and have done some research about Moody for the last two days. It was understandable that Snape would avoid Moody, who was famous for being a Dark Wizard catcher, when Snape himself was a cleared Death Eater, but Toshiro had a feeling there was something more than that.

"Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad and bounced him all around his dungeon..." Ron's voice broke his thoughts, and Toshiro sighed at the simple-minded boy. He would really need to grow up if he wanted to survive the dark future looming over this society.

-

The Gryffindor fourth years hurried to class with a vigour that Toshiro hadn't seen before. It was their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson and everyone just seemed to be bouncing with anticipation. Neville wasn't an exception, and Toshiro could feel an headache forming from being surrounded by overly excited teenagers for far too long.

When the bell rang, everyone hurried into the classroom to get good seats. Neville rushed in to sit right at the front and reserved a seat for Toshiro as well. Toshiro sighed, not really wanting to sit near the suspicious man, but reluctantly sild in beside Neville. He wondered why the normally reserved boy was enthusiastic today.

Not very long after the students settled down, Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps rang through the corridor. He entered the unusually quiet room and growled. "You can put those away. Those books. You won't need them."

Moody sat down and took out a register and began calling out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical one swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present. "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with the Dark-"

"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out, and Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron. Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but he relaxed when Moody smiled after a moment. Toshiro, however, sharpened his eyes. It happened just for a second, but Toshiro didn't miss the calculating gaze that flashed in Moody's eyes.

"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago... Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore. One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."

'Harsh retirement?' Toshiro inwardly snorted at Moody's words. His aurora was one of a relentless hunter. Someone like Moody would never stop chasing their prey - whatever it is - until they die.

Moody gave a harsh laugh and clapped his gnarled hands together. "So- straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves. He reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Toshiro whirled around, like most of the class, to see Lavander jump and blush, before taking something out from under her desk and into the bag. Toshiro narrowed his eyes. It was apparent that Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, and that meant that Moody's eye was probably capable of looking through anything.

Does that meant that he could even see through shinigami's gigai? Thankfully, unlike usual gigai's which were empty on the inside, Toshiro's gigai right now was custom made by Urahara who made it just like a human body, including the intestines. But how does it look when the Shinigami was inside the gigai? Does it look different than a normal wizard? Is that why Moody has been observing Toshiro closely? Toshiro frowned. He'd have to contact Penelope soon.

Toshiro cut his musings short, and turned back his attention to Moody, who was speaking again. "So... do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one... Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet and took out a glass jar from his desk drawer. It had three large black spiders in it, and Toshiro saw Ron recoil slightly. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders and held it in the palm of his hand so that the class could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.

Everyone was laughing- everyone except Moody and Toshiro. Toshiro pursed his lips and gave a blank stare at Moody who was observing him with both eyes- both normal and magical.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody growled, turning his normal eye back to the class, "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away instantly.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..." Moody trailed off, and Ron shuddered.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Toshiro realized that he was talking about Voldemort's reign of power. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will."

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody suddenly barked, and every one jumped.

Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hermione's hand flew into the air again, and to Toshiro's surprise, so did Neville's. Neville looked nervous, but resolute as well.

"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye finally rolling away from Toshiro to fix on Neville.

"There's one- the Cruciatus Curse." Neville's voice was small and distant, and a little hollow. Toshiro looked at Neville and frowned at his friend's pale face.

Moody was also looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes. "Your name's Longbottom?" he asked, his magical eye swooping down to check the register. Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," Moody calmly continued, "needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea." He said, and pointed his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!"

The spider swelled until it was even larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretense, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible.

Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body. It rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but if it was a creature with a voice, Toshiro was sure that it would have been screaming. Toshiro saw Neville clench his hands tightly, until his knuckles turned white while his horrified eyes was fixed on the convulsing spider. He turned to glare at Moody, just in time to see a predatory gleam shining in both of his eyes that were fixated on Neville.

It was Hermione who finally broke Moody, and everyone else's trance. "Stop it!" Hermione screamed shrilly, and all the students looked around at her, and then Neville, who was rigid with horror.

Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.

"Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse. . . . That one was very popular once too." Moody turned his gaze away from Neville, glanced at Toshiro, and turned back his attention to the class.

"Right... anyone know any others?"

Although Toshiro didn't know any of the unforgivable curses, he instinctively realized what would come next. The class looked around at eachother, most wondering what was going to happen to the last spider while some of them, probably raised in wizarding families, became pale. After a bit of hesitation, Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.

Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.

"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra. ...the Killing Curse."

He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers. Even when Moody trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop, it scuttled frantically across the wooden surface.

Moody raised his wand, and Toshiro narrowed his eyes as he felt the foreboding aura of death that gathered around Moody with an ease of a practiced killer.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a familiar rushing sound that occured when hollows sucked up people's souls. As soon as the spell came near the spider, Toshiro could feel the soul being repelled from it's body, and disappear. The now empty body of a spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries. Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the dead spider skidded towards him. Toshiro could feel Hyourinmaru's angry roar, and repressed the urge to slash Moody and his wand into pieces.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.

"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Everyone's attention shifted to Harry, and Toshiro frowned. Potter shouldn't have been able to survive that kind of an attack. The killing curse was an attack similar to the hollow's cero: so tightly packed with death that it would seperate the fragile link between the living body its soul, even with a slight brush.

Then there was a new set of questions, yet again. Where did the spider's soul disappear to? What would happen to Shinigamies hit in their gigais? What about Shinigami's in their true form? Toshiro scratched his head in frustration. This kind of thing wasn't his area of expertise. He would just have to add this to his long report.

After a few more seconds of silence, Moody continued his lecture.

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." Toshiro snorted. It does not only need power, but a very strong intent to kill and not an ounce of conscience towards killing to be able to gather death with a level of ease Moody just performed. Toshiro was now almost positive that this Moody person was not who everyone thinks him to be. He was either an imposter, impersonating this Moody person, or Moody is a very good actor like Aizen, wearing a mask of a Dark Wizard catcher for years right under everyone's noses.

Masking his hostility towards Moody, Toshiro returned listening to the lecture. "Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.

"Now... those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills... copy this down..."

The rest of the lesson passed on smoothly, everyone diligently taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang - but when Moody had dismissed the students and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices - "Did you see it twitch?" "- and when he killed it - just like that!"

Toshiro frowned at their childish awe - most of the kids here will never realize just how serious these curses are until some unfortunate event happens to them or someone close to them. Toshiro tuned them out and focused on Neville, who was staring at the black stone wall with a haunted look.

"Longbottom. Longbottom!" Neville jumped, and stared at Toshiro.

"Oh, Hitsugaya..." Neville said, his voice much higher than usual.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah... uh, uh... Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"

Toshiro just nodded and leaned on the wall beside Neville. Neville blinked, bit his lips and stared out the window.

They stood in silence for a while when Hermione approached with Harry and Ron in tow.

"Neville, are you alright?" said Hermione.

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Neville stammered again, in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"

Ron and Harry exchanged startled looks and Hermione frowned.

"Neville, what - ?"

Toshiro was just about to cut her off, when an odd clunking noise sounded behind them. At Moody's appearance, all four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively. However, when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than the voice they heard so far.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on... we can have a cup of tea..."

Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Toshiro frowned, trying to guess Moody's intent. Meanwhile, Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry.

"You all right, are you, Potter?"

"Yes," said Harry, almost defiantly.

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending... well... come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked pleadingly at the four of them, but Harry, Ron and Hermione, looking just as uncomfortable as Neville, didn't say anything. Toshiro sighed.

"I'm sorry, Professor Moody, but Neville has a detention with Professor Snape soon."

Moody turned to face Toshiro and looked at him up and down in a calculating gaze.

"Hitsugaya... was it?"

"Yes."

His eyes stared at him, and Toshiro stared right back with a blank expression. Everything about the man was unnerving, but it still wasn't enough to intimidate Toshiro.

Finally, Moody turned to Neville and smiled.

"Well, then, I suppose we would have to talk some other time, then."

"Uh... yes, professor."

Moody left, leaving the five of them alone in the corridor.

"What was that for? Neville doesn't have a detention today!" Ron turned on Toshiro as soon as Moody disappeared.

"You think I don't know that, Weasley?"

Ron glared, but Toshiro just ignored him as he set down the corridors. He could hear Neville giving a short good-bye to the trio and hurridly follow him.

They walked in silence until they reached a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food. Toshiro had sensed large numbers of some life forms and had come down to investigate yesterday and found the place. Neville seemed to never have come down to this part of the castle, as he was looking around, fasinated.

"Hitsugaya, where are we?"

"The enterance to the kitchens."

"The kitchen? Where?"

Toshiro just pointed at the large painting of a gigantic silver fruit bowl.

"Just tickle the green pear."

Neville leaned over the portrait and tentitively touched the green pear.

"You need to tickle it, Longbottom."

Nevile slowly stretched out his forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckle, then suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Neville carefully wrapped his hands on it, and pulled the door open.

The kitchen was an enormous, high-ceilinged room, just as large as the Great Hall. It had mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick of fireplace at the other end. There were four long wooden tables, just like the ones in the Great Hall, filled with dishes of food. And finally, at least a hundred House elves were running around the room cooking, taking away empty dishes, and placing new dishes on the empty spots.

"Wow- this is amazing!"

An house elf approached them, but Neville was too busy looking around with awe to notice. Toshiro slightly frowned. He didn't know what Neville liked, and from yesterday's experience, if he just asked for a dinner, they would probably receive enough food for ten people.

"Could you give us a light meal, and something warm for Neville?"

"Is sir sick, sir?"

"No, he just had a ...very tiring day, and needs to relax."

"Oh, we understood sir!"

Instantly, there was a table set up for them near the fireplace with warm soup, salad, mashed potatos, various sandwiches, and drinks. Two very young elves came and tugged a confused looking Neville to a seat closer to the fireplace. Toshiro sat down next to Neville, satisfied with his work. His friend seemed to have completely forgotten his previous thoughts, as he blinked down at the small house elves clamouring for his attention. Neville looked at Toshiro helplessly, but soon gave in, smiling and laughing at the house elves antics.

Watching his friend, Toshiro smiled his first, genuine smile since he came to Hogwarts.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hi, everyone!**

**I am very sorry for disappearing for a long time.**

**It's been almost three years, and I have been having a hard time with my life to make time, or even enjoy writing anymore. However, I have received few notes from the readers from time to time, and came back to see reviews that still continued even after such a long time.**

**I am thankful for all the readers who have stayed patient with me and continued to encourage me. It is thanks to you all that I've decided to resume writing this story again.**

**Although I cannot promise fast uploads, I'll try to bring out few more chapters before the summer ends.**

**Thanks to everyone once again!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

A few weeks had passed since Moody's lesson on the Unforgivable Curses, and Toshiro was currently up in the Astronomy Tower, enjoying the morning air. These days, he only really needed a few hours of sleep to rest his mind, having nothing to really waste his energy on while the school was overflowing with it for him to draw from.

Thus, it had become a routine for him to wait until his roommates fell asleep before coming out to the Astronomy Tower where he could peacefully watch the sky, and quietly observe it as it became lighter and lighter with the rising sun. It was also an added plus that the much cooler temperature here and the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, compared to the Gryffindor dorms helped him relax and calm his frayed nerves due to all the hassle during the day.

Toshiro sighed in content as he inhaled the fresh morning air and watched the sun rising from afar. If there was one good thing that came out from this mission, it was times like this when he could just laze about. Contrary to what most of his comrades believed, Toshiro enjoyed lying down and idly loitering the day away. Before he became a shinigami, it had been somewhat a habit for him to lie down on the roof and watch the clouds pass by aimlessly. If he had lived alone, he would have been on the roof for hours, not noticing the time. Fortunately, he had lived with his grandmother who called him down for meals, and there was also Hinamori who used to jump on him to drag him into running errands with her around the town.

Now that there was no Hinamori or his grandmother to drag him away from his pastime, someone else seemed to have appointed himself in that role. One morning, after Toshiro missed breakfast for four days in a row, Neville burst in to the Astronomy Tower. Toshiro had frowned and waved the boy off at first, but Neville had stubbornly sat beside him, skipping the meal with him. That day, Neville's stomach had growled several times during class, and the boy, thoroughly embarrassed, had dug into his lunch with much vigour. Toshiro had thought the boy would give up. However, the next day, Neville came to the Astronomy Tower again, and again the day after, until Toshiro finally gave in.

That was the start of Toshiro's tentative friendship with Neville, which solidified after Moody's lesson on the Unforgivables. The boy had been considerably shaken by the whole demonstration for some reason; one that Toshiro had no intention of prying into. Everyone has some kind of secrets or weakness that they wouldn't want to reveal after all. It wasn't his business to pry.

However, as the days went on, Neville had started to dive into his school work with a newfound energy. The Gryffindors, hardly ever paying attention to shy and quiet Neville, didn't seem to notice the difference in the boy's attitude, but Toshiro was sure that a number of the professors did.

Actually, it was hard not to.

It had been almost two weeks, since Neville had destroyed a cauldron in Potions class, and the quality of his completed potions were good, if not excellent. In Transfigurations, Neville would be among the second or third batch of students to complete the task, whereas he used to be among the group that finally got it at the last minute or had to do extra homework because they couldn't perform it even until the end. And although his performance in Herbology didn't change much, Neville's talent in Charms was beginning to shine. He was soaking up spell after spell taught in Charms, often performing a new spell perfectly in his first try, neck to neck with Hermione. The tiny, jubilant professor was just delighted with Neville's lately blooming ability and would gush over him, exclaiming non-stop on how he must have inherited his Charms abilities from his father, who was apparently well into his masteries in Charms.

Outside of classes, Neville would go through his notes from previous years, perfecting the spells he couldn't perform before and solidifying the basics of all the subjects. He seemed to be determined to do something, and while Toshiro didn't know what his friend was so determined to achieve, he wasn't complaining. Neville's academic performance was increasing rapidly as well as his control in his magic, and it was slowly building his confidence and re-shaping the young boy. With the amount of dormant magic Neville had, the earlier he gained full control on his powers, the better it was, and the reason behind that motivation was not that important. If Neville wanted Toshiro to know, he would tell when he was ready. For now, Toshiro was content just carefully watching over his friend's progress so that he didn't overexert himself.

* * *

Almost a month after the class about the Unforgivables, Toshiro, just like most of the class, stared at the man who was grinning. Moody had just announced to the whole class, that he would be performing the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.

It was Hermione who broke the stunned silence.

"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," she said uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave, but Toshiro, who had been frowning, stood.

It was logical in Toshiro's point of view, as he did not know what the effects the curse had on shinigamies yet, and although he doubted the Imperious Curse would cause much problems, he did not want to experiment on it. That was the speciality of the 12th division, and Urahara was currently working on it with Penelope and other 2nd division officials who had been in the Wizarding World for a few years already. They would send him the results from the experiments soon, and until then, Toshiro wasn't going to risk anything.

However, Toshiro's actions shocked everyone in class as students who had been quietly snickering at Hermione's predicament, suddenly became deadly silent as they watched Moody shift his narrowed eyes on Toshiro.

Ignoring the their reactions, Toshiro calmly looked at Moody. "I'd like to be excused then. Professors don't have the authority to cast illegal spells on the students without their consent, and I do not give mine."

"...You'll regret it, boy. When you get caught unawares later on." Moody curled his lips savagely, making the students flinch back. Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the subtly veiled threat. This mortal, whose power level barely reached the level of a low seated officer, was threatening him? A Captain? Toshiro fixed his icy turquoise orbs on Moody's and smirked.

"You are welcome to try professor, that is, like you said, if you can catch me unawares."

Moody's eyes narrowed at the obvious insult and the observing students took in a sharp breath. However, Toshiro calmly collected his bags and left the classroom, ignoring everyone else.

* * *

Neville sighed as he left the library. Toshiro hadn't turned up for lunch and his classmates in Ancient Runes told Neville that he did not turn up for that class either. Neville sighed again, recalling Toshiro's abrupt departure in class, not to mention his unusual hostility to Professor Moody.

The class been deathly silent for a while after Toshiro's departure, no one daring enough to speak up and bring Moody's wrath upon themselves. Soon, Moody started barking out names, and students stumbled forward in turns to be tested on their resistance to the Imperious Curse, only to be thoroughly humiliated in front of the whole class. The only exception had been Harry, who fought off the curse, and to everyone's - including himself - surprise, Neville himself.

He had watched nervously as, one by one, their classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas had hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem, while Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel.

Noticing that the Professor's magical eye stayed fixed on the classroom door the whole time, Neville had sighed, dreading his turn. He knew that Toshiro did not like the man for some unknown reason, but did he have to anger him before he left? While no one was yet able to resist the curse, the antics the students were made to perform was getting more and more humiliating.

Neville tried to dispel the nervousness out of his head. It wasn't like Moody would make them do something nasty or anything, and as humiliating as the students antics were, it wasn't really that much different from all the humiliating things he had done over the years. Also, it wasn't like anyone had managed to resist the spell yet. There was no need for him to feel pressured or anything. Telling himself that over and over again, Neville took calm breaths and collected himself, when finally, Moody's gruff voice called out his name.

"Longbottom, your turn."

Neville moved to stand in the middle of the classroom, into the space where Moody had cleared of desks. As Neville stood in front of the class, Moody slowly raised his wand, pointed it at him, and said, "Imperio!"

It was the most strange thing Neville had ever experienced. It was as if he was floating on the clouds, drifting in the wind, free from all the problems in the world. However, the feeling was a little distant, as if he was trapped inside someone else's body and feeling it through their senses.

But it was not uncomfortable. Even the distant feeling of everyone in the class watching him did not make him agitated, even though he could still register it somewhere in his mind. He wanted to do nothing more than just close his eyes and drift away in this quiet and relaxing world and leave all his problems and worries behind him. He just stood there, relishing in the calm and peaceful atmosphere when he suddenly heard something whispering into his mind.

_'bend backwards… into a summersault. Cartwheel across the room…'_

_A summersault? He didn't know how to do a summersault, and cartwheeling even more so._

_'bend backwards… into a summersault. Cartwheel across the room…'_

_But… how?_

_'just bend backwards…'_

_I'll probably fall down and make a fool of myself again, trying something like that. Why is this person making me do such foolish things?_

_'Bend! NOW!'_

_No! I don't Want to!_

Neville suddenly blinked as his feelings returned to him in a rush. He wobbled a little before registering his surroundings once again, and quickly took a step backwards as he suddenly came face to face with the heavily scarred face of Professor Moody.

It was the most scariest thing he had ever experienced. Moody's eyes, both the normal and magical one, was fixed on him with a strange gleam, while his mouth was twisted upwards in an unnerving curl. For a moment, he was frozen in place like a frog in front of a hungry snake, as Moody's hand slowly reached out towards him. However, his hand simply moved upwards towards his head, and patted him roughly.

"Now, that's more like it." Growled Moody's voice, as Neville slowly relaxed. "Look at this, you lot. . . Longbottom fought! He fought it, and was even able to beat it!"

It was then Neville was able to notice everyone's shocked gaze fixed upon him. His face reddened, as he nervously laughed, and inched towards his seat. However, Moody wouldn't let him.

"We'll try that again, Longbottom, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch his eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Longbottom, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

Neville was finally freed after a few more demonstrations, and he sat frozen in his seat as everyone in the class continued to stare at him. The stares seemed to become even more intensive as more and more students continued to fail… before Harry finally succeeded in resisting the curse. However, even Harry seemed to have trouble resisting the curse in his first try, and when the class finally ended, Neville hurriedly left the classroom before anyone could approach him.

He couldn't even enjoy lunch peacefully. The news seemed to have spread quickly around the school, and he was met with whispers and disbelieving looks from everywhere. Having failed to find Hitsugaya in the Great Hall, he had hurried to his next class – Divinition – before hurrying out an hour later, in search for his friend.

* * *

While his classmates were undergoing the lesson on throwing off the Imperious Curse, Toshiro was in a remote part of Hogwarts, having a meeting with the Hogwarts' ghost population. He sighed as he looked over at least twenty ghosts present in the room, all of whom who were eying him warily.

It had been Ukitake's suggestion for him to seek out the ghosts. Actually, before Ukitake told him, Toshiro hadn't had a clue that there were ghost inhabitants in the castle. As soon as they felt his presence enter the walls of Hogwarts, they had hid themselves from him, and the abundance of the energy in the school concealed their presence well enough from Toshiro that he had failed to notice them without conscious effort.

Toshiro rubbed his nose and sighed at the blatant hostility coming off from the ghosts. "I'm not here to break your bonds that bound you to this world. I just come here to seek your knowledge."

"And what knowledge do you seek, young shinigami?"

Toshiro turned to face the owner of the wispy voice – a middle-aged man with blank staring eyes and a gaunt face, who was wearing robes stained with silver blood. However, under his mask of indifference, Toshiro could see calculating eyes that was carefully observing him.

"I am Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th squad in Soul Society. I am currently in Hogwarts in an undercover mission to observe and gain understanding of the Wizarding World first-hand. I have no intention of bringing harm to the castle and its inhabitants, whether it be living or non-living. I sought your presence out for your knowledge, as I am aware that you are bound to the laws of the afterlife as I am, and will not leak the information to any living being."

The man carefully observed Toshiro before speaking. His voice, unlike before, was sharp and clear. "I am the Bloody Baron, the head of the Slytherin Ghosts." He then gestured to a mid-aged lady at his side. "She is the Grey Lady, the head of the Revenclaw Ghosts and the oldest of us all. Speak of your question, young shinigami, and we will consider whether to reply or not."

Toshiro decided to approach the matter directly. "I wish to know if the Unforgiveable Curses, especially the Killing Curse, has any effect on the ghosts."

As those words came out of his mouth, he could practically feel the air stiffen as the ghosts started to quietly whisper among themselves. Only a few of them continued to observe him, the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady among them.

"And why do you seek such knowledge? It is neither needed nor useful for shinigamies."

"I am afraid that it has become so. We have been informed of the signs that mark the return of the Dark Lord in this world, and a possibility of a rogue shinigami taking an interest in that particular organization."

Toshiro could hear an intake of breath from all the ghosts as they stared at him with shocked eyes. This time, it was the Grey Lady who broke the tense silence.

"How is that possible? How could he break the law that binds all beings of afterlife?"

"There are loopholes in the law, just like any other laws that exist. Apparently, this Voldemort figure is a being that is neither fully alive nor fully dead. He is not bound by the laws and we are not bound by them either when dealing with him. However, he has followers who fall under the jurisdiction of the law, which prevents us from taking any direct action against him. Thus, we need to learn how to deal with him and his followers under the guise of a living being."

"…this rogue shinigami that you're speaking of, how strong is he? And how sure are you of his interference in the Wizarding World?"

"We are assuming that there is a very high possibility of the said shinigami interfering in the Wizarding World, by observing his footprints before his departure. He was able to go through an alarmingly large amount of records on the Wizarding World in our world, and has had contact with various different individuals assigned to this part of the world."

The Bloody Baron, who was quietly listening to his explanation, frowned. He seized Toshiro up with his calculating gaze once again, before sighing and turning around.

"Follow me, young captain. It seems like we are in need of a much serious discussion."

Toshiro followed after the ghost without hesitation, as other ghosts slowly started to trail behind him as well.


End file.
